They’re rioting in Texas! The McAllen, Texas Monitor is adding fuel to the flames by reprinting an article from the Orange County, CA Register - they want nationwide protests. The government is getting into our private business again. What is the big deal? The furor is caused by a proposed California law, AB1634 that requires neutering of animals that come into contact with animal control officers. The owner will be fined (unless they neuter their pet, then). Oh whoa-is-me.

The proponents cite the hundreds of thousands of euthanized animals each year and the cost to catch and house them until they are put down. The detractors say, "It is not the government’s business". The proponents say that an un-neutered female cat can have 100’s of kittens in her lifetime. Actually the number varies depending on your source from 100 to 70,000 (including the offspring of the first cat’s kittens and grandkittens). The opponents say, "It is not the government’s business". No one even mentions the number of kittens that can be fathered by an un-neutered male cat.

The reality is that feral cats live short, unhealthy lives. The reality is that many kittens and cats are not adopted from shelters and must be euthanized. The reality is that we can reduce that number through sterilization - beginning with kittens. Neutering a young cat is healthier for the cat and aids in your cat-human relationship by limiting aggression and unwanted spraying and marking.

It was once thought that neutering a kitten was not a good idea and that the owner should wait until the cat is six to eight months old or a female has had her first litter. Now research tells us that those beliefs are not true. After following kittens that were neutered very young (6 to 12 weeks), Canadian and US shelter operators found that these cats had the same rate of health problems as cats neutered when they were older. They had the same metabolic rate, growth, urethral diameter at adulthood, and the same behavioral patterns. In addition, early neutering is less traumatic for your pet because the procedure produces less tissue trauma, is less stressful, and has a shorter recovery period, with a lower risk of complications.

Posted by Barbara.